Bengaluru professor loses Rs 5.2 lakh in click-to-earn scam

BENGALURU: A 37-year-old IT professor lost Rs 5.22 lakh while trying to make extra income through a work-from-home scheme involving liking and subscribing to YouTube channels. The professor, Amit (name changed), received a message via WhatsApp and was enticed into the fraudulent scheme after he was offered a task-based role, promising daily earnings of Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 by promoting YouTube channels.

Amit was told that the scheme involves a prepayment method and he initially invested Rs 1,000 and earned a return of Rs 1,500. After a month, he invested Rs 5.22 lakh with expectations of returns exceeding Rs 10 lakh but was immediately denied access to the Telegram group. The investigating officer from Bengaluru Rural CEN police station said, “Amit, associated with an private engineering college located on Sarjapur Road, was lured into the scheme.” Victim blocked from accessing Telegram group On September 13, Amit received a message saying, “We offer a part-time work-from-home job opportunity that pays Rs 5,000-7,000 each day upon completion of tasks including liking, sharing, and subscribing to YouTube videos to promote the channel.”

Amit was told that the scheme was ‘prepaid’ only after he joined the Telegram group. He was removed from the WhatsApp group where the Telegram link was initially shared. He first invested Rs 1,000 and earned a return of Rs 1,500. With higher investment, tasks, and targets escalated. Once the targets were met, participants received returns that doubled their investments, the officer explained. Having earned the money, Amit took the risk and invested Rs 5.22 lakh, transferring money to 10 different bank accounts. But soon after, he was blocked from accessing the Telegram group.